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Infect. Immun. doi:10.1128/IAI.00822-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

L-Fucose Stimulates Utilization of D-Ribose by Escherichia coli MG1655 fucAO and E. coli Nissle 1917 fucAO Mutants in the Mouse Intestine and in M9 Minimal Medium

Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881; Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: pco1697u{at}postoffice.uri.edu.

	Abstract

E. coli MG1655 uses several sugars for growth in the mouse intestine. To determine the roles of L-fucose and D-ribose, an E. coli MG1655 fucAO mutant and an E. coli MG1655 rbsK mutant were fed separately to mice along with wildtype E. coli MG1655. The E. coli MG1655 fucAO mutant colonized the intestine at 2 orders of magnitude lower than the wildtype, but the E. coli MG1655rbsK mutant and the wildtype colonized at nearly identical levels. Surprisingly, an E. coli MG1655 fucAO rbsK mutant was eliminated from the intestine by either wildtype E. coli MG1655 or E. coli MG1655 fucAO, suggesting that the fucAO mutant switches to ribose in vivo. Indeed, in vitro growth experiments showed that L-fucose stimulated utilization of D-ribose by the E. coli MG1655 fucAO mutant, but not by an E. coli MG1655 fucK mutant. Since the fucK mutant can't convert L-fuculose to L-fuculose-1-phosphate whereas the fucAO mutant accumulates L-fuculose-1-phosphate, the data suggest that L-fuculose-1-phosphate stimulates growth on ribose both in the intestine and in vitro. An E. coli Nissle 1917 fucAO mutant, derived from a human probiotic commensal strain, acted identically to E. coli MG1655 fucAO in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, L-fucose at a concentration too low to support growth stimulated the utilization of ribose by the wildtype E. coli strains in vitro. Collectively, the data suggest that L-fuculose-1-phosphate plays a role in the regulation of ribose usage as a carbon source by E. coli MG1655 and E. coli Nissle 1917 in the mouse intestine.

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